On July 7th Gretchen Carlson, former anchor with Fox News, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against powerful Fox Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes. His attorneys immediately invoked an age-old defense tactic. They scorned the charges, and labeled Carlson as a disgruntled employee.

But other women, seeing the media story, immediately contacted Carlson’s sexual harassment lawyers to testify against Ailes. They allege he has a decades-old history of using intimidation tactics. The women say Ailes created pressure to comply with his sexual advances by offering to help advance their careers if they succumbed, and by threatening to harm their careers if they refused him. Ailes’ attorneys attempted to reject those allegations too. They dismiss the charges as untrue, simply because the grievances are so old. The women’s complaints of sexual harassment reach as far back as 50 years into Ailes’ past.

But the passage of time has turned the tables on Ailes. The pressure is now on him. Women in these times feel more confident about getting a fair hearing in court, and in the media, about the trauma they endured in silence long ago. So, in his latest defensive move, Ailes sought to have the suit heard privately, in arbitration, out of the media’s reach. Carlson’s attorneys fight for a public hearing.

Either way, these women are no longer fighting alone. They will enjoy a groundswell of support, in the wake of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Bill Cosby. Cosby’s lawyers had used the same defenses, saying that the allegations are too old to be believed, and repeatedly labeling his accusers as liars.

Even though the statute of limitations had run out on the original sexual harassment charges, Cosby’s attorneys opened themselves up to defamation lawsuits. Simply, they had called the accusers liars by blatantly, and continuously, labeling their accusations false. Based on those sweeping public denials, Cosby’s accusers were able to sue Cosby and his lawyers for defamation. Therefore, Roger Ailes accusers might be able to do the same thing to him. The tables have turned, again.